Bhagya Rekha (1948) Marathi Classic Cast:- SHANTA APTE, BABURAO PENDHARKAR Director - SHANTARAM ATHAVALE EVERY DANCE DIRECTOR in the film industry owes a small debt to Shanta Apte. Until she began singing on screen, most actor-singers of those pre-playback years simply stood still while singing. She was one of the first to use spontaneous gestures and eye movements while singing eloquently and melodiÂously. Compared to her, other artistes began to seem stagey and pompous. She may not have been the greatest dancer in film history, but she was certainly the first to dare to use her eyes and hands freely as she sang. Her confidence came from her training at the Maharashtra Sangeet Vidyalaya music school in Pandharpur, not far from Dudhni, Maharashtra, where she was born. And it wasn't just her eloquent gestures that gained popularity. Her singing talent later marked her as one of the two greatest stars of the pre-playback era, the other being Kanan Devi. She began her acting c! areer with 'Shyam Sundar' in 1932. But the real break came a year later when her songs in Prabhat Studio's 'Amritmanthan', where she played not the heroine but the hero's sister, caused a box-office bonanza, making the film a hit even in the North where Prabhat had been tryÂing hard to make inroads. But as with most breakthrough performers, Apte faced doubt and even derision at first. Even music director Keshavrao Bhole doubted whether she could sing light classical effectively until the runaway success
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